Keeping the game’s story away from comic characters crucial, says creator
"If you guys were the A-team, we'd be building a tank by now..."
Telltale Games‘s The Walking Dead has been received significant praise, thanks in no small part to the narrative, a fact supported by comic creator Robert Kirkman.
He talked to the PlayStation blog about how the story options were key to making the game work. He said, ”Telltale came in with a proposal that involved doing a very different kind of video game. A video game that didn’t focus on shooting zombies or hiding from zombies or being chased by zombies… They focused on the emotional, dramatic component. It was a very keen focus on decision making and how that affects your characters, and also how those characters evolved over the course of a narrative.”
Kirkman added, “This game very much takes place in the world of The Walking Dead comic book, and it deals with things that exist there. And you can’t really tell a story like that if Rick Grimes is the main character.
“Very early on we decided to focus on a different character and a different story that would weave in and out of the comic book story in interesting and meaningful ways. But we also wanted it to be a standalone story so that the comic and game can complement each other without contradicting each other. So yeah, those meetings were something I was very involved with… but the type of game it is, and the way the gameplay works, is all Telltale.”
While Kirkman praised the narrative content of the game, he also pointed out how the writing process work away from the comics. He said, ”I can make a good comic book, I’m a comic book writer. But when it comes to making a television show, I don’t know anything about television. So I’ll work with someone to make the best the best show possible. I like to work with people who know what they’re doing. So I’m able to step back and say, ‘Telltale knows how to make good video games.’ I’m not going to come in and say, ‘We should do this and that’ because I don’t make video games. Allowing an expert to come in and do what they do best, I think, is the secret to The Walking Dead becoming as big as it is.”
Follow James on Twitter: @Keltar93